Anti-Drop Unit With Stepped Contact For Overhead Transport
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing article transport devices struggle to efficiently handle articles of various sizes and large numbers, particularly in overhead hoist transport systems, where fall prevention mechanisms may not be effective for diverse article dimensions.
Innovation Solution
The article transport device incorporates a housing with a hoist unit and an anti-drop unit featuring a stroke with a contact portion having a step shape, allowing for effective gripping and prevention of articles from falling, regardless of size, by adjusting the stroke's movement based on article height.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a conventional fall prevention member is used, then articles can be prevented from falling, but articles of various sizes cannot be effectively handled
Solution Approach 1:
The fall prevention member is divided into multiple contact portions (first contact portion, second contact portion, third contact portion) arranged at different positions. Each contact portion can independently contact articles of different sizes, allowing the single fall prevention member to effectively prevent various sized articles from falling while maintaining adaptability.
2Reliability
If the stroke moves fully toward the internal space, then the anti-drop unit can prevent falls, but the stroke may collide with articles of various heights
Solution Approach 1:
The hoist unit performs preliminary action by gripping and lifting the article into the internal space before the stroke moves toward the internal space. This ensures the article is securely positioned and the stroke can then move without risk of collision, as the article is already held by the hoist unit.
Solution Approach 2:
Stroke sensors detect the position of the stroke and provide feedback to the control unit. The control unit uses this feedback to control the movement of the stroke, stopping it when it reaches a predetermined position to prevent collision with articles while still allowing it to move far enough to effectively prevent falls.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple fall prevention members are added to handle various sizes, then versatility improves, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The fall prevention member is designed as a universal component with multiple contact portions that can handle articles of various sizes. By making the single fall prevention member multi-functional through its stepped structure, the device achieves versatility without increasing the number of components, thus avoiding increased complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
An article transport device is provided. The article transport device comprises a housing including an internal space, a driving unit disposed on an upper portion of the housing and traveling along a driving rail installed on a ceiling, a hoist unit disposed in the internal space and gripping a first transport article, and an anti-drop unit installed in the housing and preventing the transport article from falling, wherein the anti-drop unit includes a stroke configured to move toward the internal space, and a contact portion installed at one end of the stroke and contacting the first transport article, wherein the contact portion has a step shape that descends in a direction toward the internal space.